Short Circuits: 'Don Jon' on video, Facebook donations, mobile use

December 30, 2013 - 2:10 PM

Video

A romantic comedy for guys

In “Don Jon,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt — in his feature-length writing and directorial debut — stars as Jon, a New Jersey bartender who has no trouble bedding ladies but prefers pornography. This disarming film proves Gordon-Levitt’s deftness behind the camera and in front of a computer screen, writing, and gives Scarlett Johansson a star turn as Jon’s foil Barbara.

The movie starts as a raunch-fest, reveling in crass language and frank discussions about the relative merits of computer-generated ecstasy over the old-fashioned kind. But somewhere along the way, the comedy seamlessly morphs into an incisive satire and, finally, an extremely affecting story about the value of intimacy between two real people — not actors, not avatars.

Tony Danza and Glenne Headly are wonderful as Jon’s loud, sports-obsessed father and his oppressive mother, who yearns to be a grandma.

The DVD (Fox, $30) includes HitRECord shorts. The Blu-ray ($40) adds more featurettes.

Washington Post

Colin Covert says: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s writing/directing/starring debut is like its diamond-in-the-rough title character. It shows a lot of unrealized potential, with enough charm to ease you past its shortcomings.

Facebook users can now donate money to some of their favorite nonprofits directly through the social networking site. Facebook recently unveiled its new “Donate Now” button, allowing charities to ask for and receive donations without requiring that people first go to another site.

The feature is still in beta testing, but it has been rolled out on the Facebook pages of nearly 20 top nonprofits, including the World Wildlife Fund, Water.org, the ASPCA, the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Oxfam and others. After testing has been completed, other nonprofits will be able to apply for the ability to add the button to their Facebook pages.

The donate button is configured for preset amounts — $10, $25, $50, $100 and $250. Payments can be made by credit card or via PayPal. According to Facebook, 100 percent of the donation goes to the nonprofit, but the charity doesn’t get your credit-card information or your personal information, so you won’t be added to any mailing lists. (You will, however, receive a receipt to make the deduction tax-deductible.) Users can opt to have their donations appear in their Facebook news feed so they can share their actions with their friends.

Mother Nature Network

Mobile

Going online is twice as popular

Faster Internet, faster smartphones and bigger screens mean U.S. mobile users are going online with their phones more than ever before — nearly twice as much in 2012. On average, U.S. mobile users consumed about 1.2 gigabytes of data per month in 2013, the New York Times reported, citing wireless carrier consultant Chetan Sharma. By comparison, U.S. mobile users were only using about 690 megabytes of data per month in 2012.